Ranchi, Sept. 11: The Jharkhand Public Service Commission has decided to file an FIR to stop the illegal sale of application forms for recruitment of primary school teachers.

According to sources, the majority of the forms are being illegally routed from Ranchi and Jamshedpur and are even finding their way out of the state.

Priced at Rs 5, the forms meant to be sold at the district headquarters in the state are being sold for Rs 100 in Haryana, Assam, Bengal, Orissa, Bihar and other states.

Officials said the JPSC has flooded with enquiries from places like Dibrugarh, Rourkela, Purulia, Chandigarh, Dehra Dun, Lucknow, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Delhi, Patna, Siwan and Hajipur regarding the authenticity of the application forms that are numbered and are meant only for vacancies in particular districts for which they have been issued. A candidate with a form issued for Ranchi cannot apply for any other district.

The forms, supposed to be sold only at government counters, are being sold openly at many places in the capital for Rs 20. A vendor on Kutchery Road said he procured the forms for Rs 10 each. “Many customers are ready to pay more than stand in serpentine queues,” he added.

Holding the district administrations guilty, JPSC chairperson P.C. Hembrom has asked the commission secretary to stem the rot by filing an FIR.

Hembrom told The Telegraph: “We issued the forms to the deputy commissioners on condition that they would be sold only after entering the names and addresses of the candidates. The deputy commissioners were to monitor the sale of forms. I wonder how could the forms reached states like Assam and Haryana. The districts administration have violated the norms.”

For 9,232 advertised posts, the JPSC has issued over 1.32 lakh forms so far. Yet there is a demand for more, especially from districts bordering Bihar, JPSC sources said.

“Districts like Sahebganj, Godda, Dhanbad are demanding more forms, but the lion’s share has been grabbed by Ranchi and East Singhbhum (Jamshedpur). Against 209 vacancies in Jamshedpur and 1,200 in Ranchi, the JPSC has so far sent 11,000 and 30,000 forms to these two districts. Against 520 vacancies in Bokaro, 9,000 forms have been issued till date. For 612 posts in Dhanbad, 10,000 forms have been sent to the coal capital. The JPSC dispatched 1,000 forms to Sahebganj for 149 vacancies, but now they want more. For 579 posts in Godda, we have already sent 5,000 forms,” a senior JPSC official said.

“The JPSC had advertised for the posts saying forms would be available only at district administration headquarters, but we have evidence that there have been irregularities in the sale of forms. The irregularities have been certainly committed in connivance with district administration employees,” he added. Initially, the JPSC had printed only 75,000 forms—almost eight times the number of vacancies. But the commission had to order a reprint. So far the JPSC has already sent 1.27 lakh forms.

“The forms have been numbered district-wise. At the time of final results, the forms will be scrutinised to ensure that the numbers and districts match. Persons whose names on the forms and the entry registers at the district headquarters do not match will be debarred from the test,” the official said.

The JPSC has decided to lodge a FIR so that raids can be conducted to nab the culprits. “It will set a precedence and is likely to stop the illegal sale,” the JPSC chairman said.